Frank HLS Class Day Speaker

Rep. Barney E. Frank '61 (D-Mass.) will be the keynote speaker at the Harvard Law School's Class Day ceremonies, class officials said yesterday.

According to class Marshal Ross F. Antonson, the treasurer of the class, a committee of graduating law students elected Frank, an alumnus of the school, after reviewing a list of approximately 30 potential speakers.

The list was compiled from suggestions from the graduating class, said Class Marshall Inger Tudor.

According to Tudor, the list also included Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan; former Justice Thurgood Marshall; and University of Oklahoma professor Anita Hill, who last fall charged that Supreme court Justice Clarence Thomas, then a nominee for the Court, had sexually harassed her.

Also on the list were Arkansas attorney Hillary Clinton, wife of presidential candidate Bill Clinton; former Speaker of the House of Representatives Thomas P. O'Neill; and former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

The results of a referendum calling for Law School Dean Robert C. Clark to abstain from Commencement ceremonies should be released today, Antonson said.

Class marshals polled third-year law students and students pursuing LLM and JD degrees, he said.

About 80 law students signed a petition requesting the referendum. In the petition, the students said they were concerned with Clark's leader-ship at the Law School.

Other Issues

Other questions on the referendum solicited student opinions about recent Law School events and asked whether students would be likely to protest Commencement ceremonies if Clark participates, Antonson said.

"There has been talk about protest at graduation, even a symbolic one," he said. "There is concern that there will be vocal disruption. But I do not know that any of this will happen."

The referendum also attempted to measure student response to a recent Harvard Law Review parody of an article by slain feminist legal scholar Mary Joe Frug, Antonson said. Many have called the parody a symptom of deeper tensions at the Law School.

According to Antonson, the class marshals plan to meet with Clark to discuss the results of the referendum.

Antonson called the referendum "one means to assess what classmates are thinking. We do not have the power to require Dean Clark to resign should the referendum be passed."

Clark's deanship at the Law School has been embroiled in controversy after recent protests about the dearth of women and minority tenured faculty. Student demonstrations, sit-ins and calls for Clark's resignation have marked opposition to the embattled dean.

Referendum Results

The referendum's results will be released in a memorandum to Law School students and administrators.

This year's class Day assembly, which will take place on June 3, will also feature the first annual Sacks-Freund Award for excellence in teaching.

The award is named for Law School professors Albert M. Sacks and Paul A. Freund, who both passed away last year.

Professor of Law Kathleen M. Sullivan was chosen to receive the award based on a poll of third year law students.

Frank will be the only official speaker during Class Day, but others may give addresses as well, Antonson said.